


I don't need your love

by GunpowderGelatin



Series: chasing cars [1]
Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMFs, Betrayal, Bisexual Meredith Grey, Break Up, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fear, Feminist Themes, Fist Fights, Hurt Derek, Jealousy, Medical Kink, Medical Procedures, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Partner Betrayal, Past Abuse, Physical Abuse, Protective Jackson, Sorry Not Sorry, Surgery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:53:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22027378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GunpowderGelatin/pseuds/GunpowderGelatin
Summary: If Meredith learned something from her mother, is that she deserves better. And when Derek strikes her during his fistfight with Sloan, she is decided to go and find better, alone or not.(surprise paring is surprising but Is not Derek, I just couldn't find the relationship tag with them)
Relationships: Arizona Robbins/Calliope "Callie" Torres, Lexie Grey & Meredith Grey, Lexie Grey/Mark Sloan, Meredith Grey & Addison Montgomery, Meredith Grey & Alex Karev, Meredith Grey & Alex Karev & Cristina Yang, Meredith Grey & Cristina Yang, Meredith Grey/Alex Karev, Meredith Grey/Derek Shepherd
Series: chasing cars [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1585519
Comments: 5
Kudos: 83





	1. Episode 16 - An Honest Mistake

The slap didn't only make Meredith's head turn, no, it made her go sprawling through the floor like a broken doll.

  
It was more like a punch, after all, Derek was strong. She wasn't expecting it. He was… the love of her life? Wasn't he? He was it. He was house-kids-picked fence deal.

  
The following moments enacted in slow motion in her head. Her skull made an audible sound as it shocked against the floor of the hallway, everyone who wasn't already peeking at the brawl was now scrambling to get to her.

  
Derek looked at her with wide eyes, and immediately turned on his heel and left. Mark, nursing a probably broken hand and a black eye rushed to her, and as she lost conscience, she thought how curious it was that her... future brother-in-law? Was more worried about her than her own boyfriend. Lexie also hurried to her, worrywart that she was.

  
Meredith was in no way a weak woman, but Derek was rough enough to cause damage.  
The world turned black.

\------ 20 minutes later ------

Meredith woke up to a world of pain and light. Putting a hand in her face, she tried to look around as the lights were dimmed, her body against the known cold of the hospital sheets.

"What the hell happened?" She was still dizzy but was pretty sure that was Cristina frowning at her.

Focusing on the rest of the room, she could clearly see Lexie pacing, pacing frowning Mark having his hand adjusted by a worried Callie who kept sneaking glances at her.

"You had the brilliant idea to try and apart McStupid and McBrute. That one has some sense, so he got back. That stupid ex-boyfriend of yours had the guts to tell you to get out of the way, and slap you when you didn't."

Meredith sighed loudly, banging her head against the pillow.

"Wait," She said, confused " Ex-boyfriend?"

"You don't expect me, or anyone with sanity, to continue to support you dating a clearly abusive guy, do you? 'Cause I won't."

"But-"

"Firstly, he is moving way too quickly. He doesn't want you, Mer, he wants a wife. Someone to pump his ego and to be good, but not as good as him."

"Secondly, " Started Callie "The first time he gets mad? Or jealous, or envy of you? It will be your hand, and your eye, we will be mending."

"Thirdly, " Said Mark " He is not here. Derek made a big, gigantic mistake. But he is not here, and he is not outside. He is back in his trailer, probably drinking"

"So no, " Ended Lexie " No, you're not with him. And won't be again. We are your family Meredith, in one way or another. By 'Dirty Mistresses Clubs', housing, blood or love, we are your family. Me, Cristina, Mark, Callie, Alex, Izzie, George. We're all your family, and he is not."

The blond looked shocked, but at the same time, there was happiness in the deep of her eyes. Her thoughts wondered briefly. Was that running? Was she running from him? Was it running if it was self-defense?

"Thank you " Her head spins briefly "Am I injured? I feel dizzy."

"You have a concussion, an ugly lash at your cheekbone and you almost bit off a piece of your tongue, but nothing broken."

"I would fix the lash," Said the plastic surgeon at the room "But as you can see, my hand is out of commission, so you will have to be at the not so capable hands of one of your fellow residents"

Meredith frowned and waved her hand.

"Can you do it, Cristina?" She asked her best friend "I don't trust George or Alex with my face, and Izzie is too emotional these days"

"Of course, Mer" She started stitching her face "So, you know we were serious, right? No backs with Derek."

"If you get back with him, I can't stay in the house." Said Mark "So give me an alert if you will."

"I won't get back with him." She said firmly. "You can stay at the house. You, Lexie, Alex, Izzie, and Cristina, George and Callie every time they need it. You're my family, after all."

And that was final. Mark and Callie exited the room, probably to discuss Mark's living arrangements. Lexie smiled at her and also left the room after her boyfriend.

Cristina stayed. She never left, and the injured never expected her too. They stayed in silence, only being cut once the Korean finished her sutures.

"I love you, you know?" Said Meredith "Much more than I love Derek."

"I know Mer. And I wish that you can love yourself as much as you love me, and I love you" 

The blonde smiled and patted the bed. Her Person climbed with her, arms around her waist, and everything was right again.

\------ later ------

The young resident went back home, still feeling a little incredulous about what just occurred. Derek was supposed to be it, wasn't he? If he was, why, oh why, is she so alleviated that he is gone?

She hadn't heard or seen naught of him, and didn't bother on calling. If he wasn't man enough to call her, then she wouldn't give him this satisfaction.

As Meredith settled to sleep, she could hear Lexie and Mark laughing upstairs, in the attic, and Alex and Izzie arguing about something in the kitchen.

She laid down and realized she only occupied half of the bed, the other side still made and cold. Her bed was empty, and she couldn't see the majority of his things around the bedroom, but there were still a few of them, here and there.

Meredith yearned to make a pyre, burn everything and drink as the flames went up in the sky, so high he would be capable to see them from his trailer.

Her history teacher in high school used to say that all women are witches. All of them have the power to destroy nations and create life, raise hell and descent heaven.

And Meredith, for once in her life, believed. She was a witch, destined to throw her captors to the metaphorical flames she was destined to.

She was a woman, and as Derek so lovingly told her before, she was also a whore. And she would be a whore with pride if whore meant a woman who could decide for herself what to do with her time and her body.

She was free to love and to hate, to have her own emotions and to do whatever the fuck she wanted to do with them.

The girl never felt so free. She had friends and a stable job (in which she could now, finally, focus), a house, a life. She didn't need a man, for more that she would like to have one.

Meredith may love Derek, but she doesn't need him. Not anymore.


	2. Episode 17 - I Will Follow You Into The Dark 1/2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meredith is the same. And yet, everything around starts changing.

* * *

Derek hasn't returned to the house. Meredith woke up to cold sheets and a bustling kitchen. For a moment, she forgot all about yesterday, but that bliss didn't last.

"His car was parked here," Said Lexie, eating a granola bar "For twenty minutes."

"At least he is not stealing my cereal." Answered Alex.

"Don't be an ass!" Izzie swatted his head, as she noticed Meredith by the door.

"So you two are done for good?" Asked her sister.

"I will believe it when I see it," Chuckled the man "I've seen Derek walk over her for less."

"You shouldn't" Mumbled Lexie "Look at your face."

"Do you want me to kick his ass, Mer?" Alex's voice was soft like he was seeing the gash in her cheek for the first time.

"No, Alex. He is still an attending, and we're still only residents."

"His patient death and the lawsuit is a lot for him," Said Izzie, who was suspiciously quiet during the exchange "So he needs some time."

"He slapped her, Izzie!" Replied the younger Grey "He swatted her out of the way like she was a fly annoying him!"

"By accident!" Izzie defended " Something big happened to him, so Meredith should give him time to figure out what to do next."

"Why?" Whispered Meredith "Why should I give him any more chances? I gave him all my chances"

They are quiet, just for a second, before the blonde resumes her defense.

"He will need support during the deposition, are you really that selfish that you can't be there for him?"

"She isn't being selfish!" Her own boyfriend replied "She is looking out for herself"

"Derek has bigger problems than a little cut in the face" She sniffed "He may never operate again!"

"And?" Said the older Grey "Why is that my problem? I have a right to decide with who I am going to be with."

The girl clearly didn't agree with that and left.

"Well, it was past the time for her to go" Sighed Alex "Come, Greys, I will give you both a ride"

  
\----In the meantime-----

Cristina finds Owen sleeping on a gurney. She goes to wake him, but he startles, and pushes her against a rack, making a big cut in her arm.

Owen's stitches up Cristina's arm. 

"It's no big deal, Owen." She starts "It's just a cut. Once, after a bad dream, I woke up pulling Meredith's hair."

"It's not just-"

"No, it's not." She replies "You have to get help. Do you ever go to therapy? After Iraq?

"No" He mumbled "Why would I? I didn't go crazy."

"Do you know what PTSD is?"

"I don't have PTSD!" Exclaimed him "I didn't… lose a limb, or was tortured. Nothing happened to me!"

"Well, how can you be certain, if you never went for therapy?"

In other realities, she wouldn't, and this would have escalated to her being choked in the middle of the night. 

In other realities, Meredith doesn't have a large gash in her cheekbone.

Cristina says they have a trauma coming in: a trampling on a football field. She's on his service today, but Owen tells her to take care of her elbow.

\----- Later ------

Meredith is the first to see Cristina. Her eyes immediately go wide at her arm.

"What happened?" She has a similar cut in her face, and her Person helped her, so she wants to be able to help her back.

"No big deal" For all her qualities, Meredith couldn't keep her mouth shut. She would be questioning Owen's ability to be a surgeon, and to be with Cristina.

She wouldn't be exactly wrong, and Cristina would do the same if the man didn't go and got help.

"How did you got this cut Cristina?" But her Person was anything but insistent.

"Tried to sidestep a trauma, tripped, fell over a crash cart" At least a third of it was true. And ok, it was a trauma, just a different type of trauma. "What's wrong with you?"

"Well, I woke up today to Alex and Lexie defending my honor to Izzie, of all people, who called me selfish for… well, for dumping Derek."

"You're not selfish, " Said Cristina, baffled "It's called self-preservation" 

"But he needs support, doesn't he?" Answered her.

"You're. Not. Selfish." She pointed "It's not your fault he doesn't have any friends."

"Cristina!" Meredith laughed.

"Well, it's the truth, " The Korean shrugged "He alienated everybody. He punched Sloan, defied Webber, never made any efforts to get close to any residents, except you. He is not friends with Bailey, or Callie, or even Robbins."

\----- In the meantime -----

Callie's looking at Mark's hand, but she doesn't seem happy.

"It's still swollen, I'd given it another day of rest"

"I haven't operated in three days"

"Don't hit people with your scalpel hand. Will you eventually talk to Shepherd?" She asks, but her voice is meek.

"Will he eventually apologize to me and to his not-so-future wife?"

"Was he going to ask?!" Callie is shocked. "They got back last month!"

"You married in Vegas" He replies weakly "But that wedding is probably off. No way she is getting back with him."

"She got back after she discovered he had a wife." Said he "I don't support it, and I will support her if she resolves not to get back with him. But there isn't much we can do."

"Well, I hope they don't. Big Grey is cool, and sweet, and didn't protest to be my sister-in-law, even if she wasn't that thrilled."

"But…. You will, won't you? Talk to Shepherd?" Asks her. "I will support you if you don't, but you should."

"Why?"

"You caught him at a bad time, " She says "Besides you and Meredith, he doesn't have anyone."

"If he manages to alienate everyone, that sounds like his problem, not mine. Losing a patient doesn't give him the right to act like a drunk frat boy. Or to hit his girl."

Callie hides behind Mark as Arizona walks by. She explains what happened, so she's hiding from Arizona now. Lexie comes over, meekly, and caught the end of their conversation.

"-Why should you be afraid of hot lesbian sex?"

"She had a date, Mark!"

"The more, the merrier!" He laughs off her frown, and then they notice Lexie.

"I will leave you alone, see you later Mark."

"I'm so so sorry for your hand, Mark," She says " I didn't think Der-… Shepherd was going to clock you in the face because of us."

"And I didn't think he was going to hit your sister." He crossed his arms "How is she doing, by the way? I didn't go back last night, feared Derek would be there."

"She is taking it with pride. And isn't going back in her decision, apparently." She smiled "Mer is also fine with you living there, but is curious about how did you pass without anyone seeing you."

They both laugh, and she kissed his cheek and leaves.

\-------- In the meantime ------- 

"Okay, O'Malley you're in the clinic, Karev you're in the pit with Hunt; Grey, Yang, with me," Said Bailey.

"Oh hey, Chief," Asked her, holding a chart over the nurse's aisle, as she spotted the Chief coming over.

"Shepherd planning to grace us with his presence today?" Asked him to Meredith, still with a gash on her face, ignoring the other resident.

"How am I supposed to know, sir?" Answered her.

"I know this might be a bad moment but I thought he would have apologized by now."

"Well, he didn't, so I don't know, sir" She stressed the don't and took the chart from Bailey to go study it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know" She waved his apology with a nod.

"Sir, I've been trying to page you all morning," Said Bailey, not like being ignored. "I could use your help on a patient today, sir"

"No Peds today?" 

"Hm, no" She frowned

"Must be slumming" He replied, childishly.

Miranda was about done with his idiotic behavior, but she doesn't call after him. If he wants to be a child, well, she will treat him like a child.

She enters the room, eyes flickering briefly by Meredith's cheek. Bailey would make sometime later to ask how her resident was. She always liked the oldest Grey.

The resident was driven and smart, and the perfect combination between caring and professional. She wasn't harsh like Karev, or way too invested like Stevens. She didn't mumble her way through her answers like O'Malley or was cold like Yang.

Grey was mild, an iron hand hidden by a velvet glove. And Shepherd didn't know what he was losing. Not only personally, as Bailey knew the woman was fiercely protective about her people, but professionally.

That was the moment to steal Grey for General Surgery, and Miranda wasn't a fool to not take advantage of it, even when she was (probably) moving to Peds.

Yang was too cold for General, with their highly sensitive cases involving bad choices and grunt work, and was better off at Cardio. 

Karev didn't fool anyone with his harshness. He would do good in NeoNatal, or Peds. He was loud and boisterous, but he advocates for every child that passed by his hand.

O'Malley was getting invested in trauma, and maybe it was good for him, Bailey could see the heroism, the moral and the fiber necessary to the job.

Stevens was, in the beginning, obviously Peds. Now Miranda could see she had tenure for teaching and had a delicacy that escaped most surgeons. Good for Plastics, or Neuro.

And Meredith Grey was the Crown Jewel of her Treasure, not by name but by balance and capacity. If only now without Shepherd blinding and obscuring her, she could finally shine through.

"Grey, " She asked, and noted a startled Yang pass the chart to her best friend " Present the case."

"Tricia Shelley, 31; Michael Shelley, 27; and Megan Shelley, 23 " She starts, skimming over the file. She studied but didn't expect to present. The patient's eyes fickle briefly to her face now and then, but by this time she is already comfortable with it "They all tested positive for the CDH1 gene for hereditary diffuse gastric cancer."

"Which means what Dr. Yang?"

"Which means that they all have a 3 in 4 chance of developing cancer."

"Dr. Bailey removed tumors from pretty much everyone in our mother's side," She says.

"Unfortunately, it's a highly aggressive cancer" Replies the doctor. "The tumors grow quickly, so by the time I get in there-"

"So our family tree is down to a branch" She shrugs "That's why we're doing the surgery."

"How is Uncle Bud doing?"

"Dead" Answered Michael.

"And Aunt Helen?"

"Dead"

"The Minnesota cousin?" Bailey tries one more.

"Well he is alive," Says Megan, hopefully.

"In a hospice, breathing with a ventilator, weighing 90 pounds, Meg," Tricia says, bitterly.

"Still, not dead yet"

"So, you've decided you're ready to take the next step"

"We've made a pact. We're all in this together" Says the oldest. "Cut our stomachs out, doctors"

Meredith flicks through their file, interested, and Miranda smiles.

She is getting Grey to General before she leaves for Peds, or she is not called Miranda Bailey.

\------ In the meantime ----- 

In the ER, the paramedics tell Owen about Beth Dearborn, who had a grand mal during the marching band and seized again upon arrival.

They inject lorazepam as Alex enters the room, with a crash cart ready.

"She is in V-fib!" Alex screams, as he starts chest compressions, the nurse beside him putting the girl in manual ventilation. "Paddles!"

"Stop, Karev!" Exclaims Owen "It could an artifact of the seizure. If we shock and she is not actually in V-fib, does she got a pulse?"

Alex can't tell if she has a pulse and the lorazepam doesn't work, so Owen decides they need to shock her after all. Owen grabs the paddles and shocks her. Beth's heart rhythm returns to sinus tach.

"It was a good call, Dr. Hunt," Said Arizona, entering the room as the girl started to stir.

"What's… What's happening? Where am I? Oh, No. It happened again?"

"My name is Arizona Robbins, I'm the peds surgeon on call, you're at Seattle Grace Hospital, you seized, Beth."

"She is going to look for any internal injuries you might have," Owen said " You got run over pretty bad while marching"

"But… But I took my meds, to prevent the seizure" She mumbles "Seizing in the middle of the march is like crapping my pants"

"It's not" Karev tries to reassure, but he only wins an eye-roll.

"It is" She sighs "Everyone is looking at you, and judging you for something you can't control."

They work in silence for a second when she sighs again.

"Crap, they're gonna kill me"

"Who?"

"Seizure patrol."

"Seizure patrol?" Asks Alex.

The seizure patrol then comes in, a girl and a boy dressed in a band uniform, and explain their role: they are supposed to drop their instruments whenever Beth seizes and roll her on her side. 

"We were favored to win in Northwest Regional Parade until Beth took all our drums down. And also, the whole woodwinds section and half of the tubas" Said the girl.

"Ok, why don't you go call her parents? " Alex replies.

"But we are seizure patrol, we have to" Alex roll his eyes at the girl.

"I'm seizure patrol now, leave"

They leave and give place to Owen, who also is leaving.

"I want you to watch her and stand by with a crash cart while I'm going to run some tests"

"It's interning work, man"

"Well, do you see any interns around?"

\----- In the meantime ----- 

(A/N: There's Patient X drama happening with Izzie and the Interns, but as you can see, I don't like Izzie really that much in the fifth season, and I don't see a reason to rewrite her scenes as they are not changing in any way to canon for now.

Basically, the interns are given her scans to work with, without knowing it's her, and, for now, they haven't found anything.)

\---- In the meantime -----

Meredith and Cristina distribute the papers to the Shelley siblings.

"What's that?" Asks Michael.

"What?" Replies Meredith.

"The ugly cut in your face." He says like he is stating the obvious.

"Michael, stop!" Tries his older sister. "Sorry, he is just lashing out."

"What? I'm just asking!" He laughs, then notices the one at Cristina's arm "Wow, did you two have a fight or something? Why did they give us the hand me down doctors?"

Both of them ignored him and waited for them to read their papers.

"What's that?" He asked again, this time, about the paper.

"Possible side effects and complications from prophylactic gastrectomy, so you know what to expect post-op"

"Mal-nourishment, fatigue…. Dumping syndrome?" 

"Oh, that doesn't sound good" Replies his younger sister. Meredith is almost rolling her eyes. She generally likes patients, but apart from the older one, they're insufferable.

"Possible ANAL leakage?!" Exclaims her idiotic brother, and Meredith is about done with him.

Ok, it's a surprise to anyone that they may have the possibility to be a little incapacitated after surgery. Anal leakage is humiliating, but… Weren't they doing this to avoid dying? The side effects shouldn't stop them from trying to /not die/.

"Gastrectomy isn't like getting your appendix out" Replies her best friend "We're changing the way your entire digestive system works."

"What Dr. Yang means it's that there are serious adjustments to your life after this. This is major surgery, after all."

"I'm president of my frat! I have a girlfriend, I go snowboarding, how am I supposed to do all this stuff when I'm suddenly this weak old man with anal leakage?"

"Yeah," Thinks Meredith "How you are supposed to do all that if you have cancer and need chemo? Or if you're dead, I know most girls don't have sexual interest for a corpse."

But tries to water down that line of thinking, but is beaten by his sister.

"You know how important this is to Trish…" The girl is meek, and her brother starts talking over her quickly.

"Tricia has run our lives since we were little kids! She decides where we go to dinner, where we go on vacation, where we do Thanksgiving. I'm twenty-seven years old, she can't make me do this."

Meredith exchanged a glance with Cristina and sighed. It was just surgery, but probably one that could save their lives, and he would throw that away… for what? To defy his sister? To run a frat? For his masculinity?

Men are so the weaker sex.

"So you rather die like Mom? Or Uncle Bud?" Says Tricia, as she enters the room in a wheelchair. "And it's not quick, Mike. It's a slow, painful way to go."

"There's a 3-in-4 chance that we don't get it, right?" He looks around the room, like a mad man. "Right?"

No one answers him, and the silence still for a minute until Dr. Bailey says yes.

"That's something!"

"Don't be stupid! You are doing this."

"You can't make me" 

Tricia looks at her younger sister, disheartened. She wasn't expecting this kind of resistance from them, not after what they saw their family pass through.

"I need time to think, Tricia" The girl was meek and easy to influence. Her brother says he would jump off a cliff, she probably would ask when so she can do it too.

Generally, Meredith would stay quiet. Not her fight to fight, not her problem to solve.

"Well, I strongly advise you do the surgery, Mr. and Miss Shelley."

Dr. Bailey looks at her, surprised. She wasn't the kind to raise her voice.

"Yes, it has many risks. But it's your only chance. What if your 1-in-4 chance isn't one of you? We'll give you both space to think better, don't make any harsh decisions"

Her chief resident looks at her approvingly, and she beams at it, soaking the pride of standing up for what she believes, and she believes in medicine more than anything in the world.

They get out of the room and encounter Richard, who is helping a nurse fill in the OR board. Strangely, it has a lot of surgeries without surgeons to do it, all of neuro.

Of course, Derek was head of neuro, but he wasn't the only neurosurgeon in the hospital. The oldest Grey could easily remember Dr. Nelson.

"Any news about Shepherd?" Asks Richard to her, as she fills Tricia Shelley's chart.

"With all due respect sir, we are not together anymore, could you please stop asking?" 

The man is clearly taken back to the girl's harsh answer and clasps her in the shoulder briefly.

"I know, Meredith. But you're the only one that he would possibly contact today. You and Mark are…. Were his only friends." 

"I know sir. But no, no, I didn't see him today. Can I help with anything?"

"I need him to do a craniotomy."

"Well, you have a whole neurosurgery department. You have at least three other neurosurgeons besides him."

"But he is the best, Meredith. This is a difficult case." He sighs, unhappy, still looking at the board.

"And you have the best surgeons, sir. Can I see the chart for this craniotomy?"

Richard stands it to her, as he tries to make sense of the other surgeries, without a head of cardio or general.

"I need people who don't quit on me." 

"Well sir, I think this case is completely on Dr. Nelson's capabilities. It's a routine surgery, sir."

"Maybe routine for Shepherd, but not for anyone."

"Oh, look!" She points "Dr. Nelson, do you have a second?"

"Y-yes, Dr. Grey" He mumbles, not knowing what to do. Generally, residents preferred Shepherd and his glamour cases. 

"Do you think you can take Dr. Shepherd's surgeries while he is… indisposed?"

"If the Chief needs me to, sure. I will need a resident to help me, but sure. I can go over his charts now, I have an hour or two."

The Chief looks surprised but smiles at both him and Meredith, who raised her eyebrow. 

"Okay, do it. Dr. Grey can help you, she was in most of his cases. Take your sister too, Meredith, she seems interested in Neuro, and you'll need an intern."

"I will report back to you later, sir."

"Can you wait for me in the conference room, Dr. Nelson? I will be there shortly."

He nods and leaves, as Meredith turns back to Richard.

"You do have people you can trust. You just choose to put your faith in people who frankly don't deserve it, sir."

He nods, deep in thinking, and she takes her to leave as Mark comes around the corner.

"I was hoping to catch Big Grey, ask how she is and all, but she looks hurried."

"Yes, there's a lot in her plate now." He sighs. " She is smarter than she looks."

"Indeed." Mark looks at the board, something churning inside of him. "My hand is still out of commission, sir. But I can operate if there's no one to take the load."

Richard looks at the inflamed red and purple hand and sighs.

"Do only essential surgeries." The chief says "Only the ones no one else can do, or your patient won't accept anyone else."

"Chief?" Mark asks, surprised.

"I'm placing my trust in who deserves it." He says, gravely. " Don't disappoint me, Sloan"

"Wouldn't dream of it, sir"


End file.
